# damn ebay snipers!!



## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5435853742

i just got sniped with 10 seconds left on this item. what a phuck... i hate that crap.

then i tried to up my bid with 10 seconds, and it had said the auction ended... DAMNIT! :c


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## SeanGAR (Jul 9, 2004)

IHT said:


> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5435853742
> 
> i just got sniped with 10 seconds left on this item. what a phuck... i hate that crap.
> 
> then i tried to up my bid with 10 seconds, and it had said the auction ended... DAMNIT! :c


I use hammersnipe ... its free. I put in my highest bid and forget it. If I win great, if I lose, I didn't want to spend that much anyhow. It usually bids with 10s to go. So I can set my bid a few days in advance and forget everything. No, I didn't bid on that pipe, but sure is pretty.

If I'm manually sniping, I have an open window with the higher bid ready to be placed as well as my refresh window that I follow the price with. I can get a bid in 3 seconds before the auction ends, but if it is a 1 or 2 second prior bid I'll miss it. But honestly, with hammersnipe I just put in a bid and forget it.


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

I've never tried a sniping program. Are there any disadvantages to using one?


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## SeanGAR (Jul 9, 2004)

croatan said:


> I've never tried a sniping program. Are there any disadvantages to using one?


This one (hammersnipe) is free but they do hassle you for PP "donations".

You can snipe 3 auctions per week free and it will let you know if your snipe bid is too low by email (usually the action is the last few minutes so that feature isn't that helpful).

Its changed the way that I bid on ebay, since I've had way too many bozos bid 6 times just to exceed my bid by 25 cents. With the snipe program I just bid what I'm happy paying and relax. Lately the bids go in 10s prior to the end, but you can control that if you use the paying version of the program.

You have to put in your ebay name and PW ... which made me nervous at first but I've used hammersnipe many dozens of times. I don't have to watch the clock anymore.


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## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

Hows it different than the proxy bidding that ebay has?


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## altbier (Feb 20, 2005)

I use auction sentry with great success.

The reason I use this program instead of ebay proxy systems is beacuse people will bid against you to max out your bid. if you use auction sentry, you arent bidding until the last few seconds and the bids are normally much cheaper.


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## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

gotcha...thanks. Im done stealing your thread Greg.


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## SeanGAR (Jul 9, 2004)

altbier said:


> I use auction sentry with great success.
> 
> The reason I use this program instead of ebay proxy systems is beacuse people will bid against you to max out your bid. if you use auction sentry, you arent bidding until the last few seconds and the bids are normally much cheaper.


Exactly.

I lost a bid last week where the guy who won bid 5 times to finally beat my bid.

I should have used the snipe program because we were the only 2 interested in the book and my bid was initially 12.56 ... his was 7. The starting price was 99 cents. I would have no doubt won had I used the snipe program. I've seen people bid dozens of times to finally beat an established bid. Pox on them.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

AAlmeter said:


> gotcha...thanks. Im done stealing your thread Greg.


not a big deal.

the reason people use snipe programs is a combo of what sean and george said.

A) you don't have to make an initial bid, which keeps the cost of the item down (cuz some people - like me - will do it manually and try to snipe in the last 5 minutes)
B) as sean pointed out, you just put in what you "want" to pay for the item, and if it goes above it, you're not sitting there all hyper and overpay for the itme.

there's more reasons, but i just don't have the time or want to put it all into words.


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## DrStrangelove (Jun 8, 2005)

auction sentry is good, you can set it to snipe with only a few seconds left.


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## Hammerhead (Sep 7, 2005)

Well, if it's any consolation, here's a little story about sniping karma for you guys.

Over last summer, I needed to buy a new rear derailleur for my bike. The one I need isn't always easy to come by (90's Campy Chorus) so when I found one, and a guy sniped it away from me, I was pissed.

Turns out the guy that sniped me bought the wrong one, and listed it two weeks later on Ebay again. I bought it from him for $25 less than he won it for.

I laughed my way all the way to the park... on my newly repaired bike.


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## Warhorse545 (Oct 16, 2005)

I myself bid what I am willing to pay and call it good at that. This sniping back and forth can tend to run the price up real fast with when " you get into the bidding war ". I bid what I am willing to pay and if I get it for less I am happy and if I am out bid, then it is more then I was willing to pay. System works for me. 

I stay off eBay, but am on several other bid boards that cater to my other hobbies.


Stacey


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## Nooner (Feb 22, 2005)

Recently I've been getting lots of emails(mostly RE pipes) from ebay sellers when I am the high bidder but the reserve is not met... I also have gotten sniped on some nice pieces.


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## DrStrangelove (Jun 8, 2005)

Hammerhead said:


> Well, if it's any consolation, here's a little story about sniping karma for you guys.
> 
> Over last summer, I needed to buy a new rear derailleur for my bike. The one I need isn't always easy to come by (90's Campy Chorus) so when I found one, and a guy sniped it away from me, I was pissed.
> 
> ...


8spd?


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

Nooner said:


> Recently I've been getting lots of emails(mostly RE pipes) from ebay sellers when I am the high bidder but the reserve is not met... I also have gotten sniped on some nice pieces.


yep, that's a good deal. my wife sells my sons clothes on ebay (they have webrings devoted to that sh*t, y'know), and if someone bids but doesn't meet the resever, you can offer them a 2nd chance or something like that.
not a bad way to grab a few pipes for considerably less than what they're worth/asking.


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## Nooner (Feb 22, 2005)

IHT said:


> yep, that's a good deal. my wife sells my sons clothes on ebay (they have webrings devoted to that sh*t, y'know), and if someone bids but doesn't meet the resever, you can offer them a 2nd chance or something like that.
> not a bad way to grab a few pipes for considerably less than what they're worth/asking.


no, these are personal emails of the 'if you still wanna buy here's my deal...' variety... I've ha the 2nd Chance offers too, but these are direct and external to e-bay... some have been tempting, but despite their reputation there is no safety net, so I haven't played... additionally I only bid as much as I was willing to pay int he first place, and all the offers were for more than that.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

sorry xmodius...

i was watching that Stanwell as i'm a sucker for horns. my max bid on "hammersnipe" was 42.75.... i had been sitting there at my computer for the past 20 minutes (i was already cued up with hammersnipe, so i just wanted to watch it unfold). then i noticed you were the high bidder with 38 seconds, then i kept clicking refresh... won it @ $34 - here's the bid history.
sorry, bro. was a helluva nice looking pipe. i like stanwells and horns...


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## Xmodius (Jun 21, 2005)

Good deal on the pipe!

I wasn't going to bid on it, but $20 was a steal and way too low. I'm glad you got it though.


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## luckybandit (Jul 9, 2006)

sniping rules set it and forfet it!


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## Millow (Dec 30, 2005)

The only way snipers get you is if you try and lowball. This is how I do it: at 45 seconds, I put in the maximum amount I am comfortable paying (at the max bid thing at the bottom of the auction, it doesn't bid the amount you put in, it just beats the previous bidders maximum amount, if theirs is lower then yours anyway). If I win, great, If I lose, I didn't want to pay that much anyway.


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

Millow said:


> The only way snipers get you is if you try and lowball. This is how I do it: at 45 seconds, I put in the maximum amount I am comfortable paying (at the max bid thing at the bottom of the auction, it doesn't bid the amount you put in, it just beats the previous bidders maximum amount, if theirs is lower then yours anyway). If I win, great, If I lose, I didn't want to pay that much anyway.


:tpd: That's what I do, only I do it during the last couple of days the auction rather than 45 seconds before the close.

When you bid on an item on ebay, you have entered into a binding contract to pay your maximum price if you win the auction. Using sniping software, you can delay that commitment until the last possible moment.

Sniping really doesn't alter the closing price, all it does is enable bidders to change their minds about bidding right up until the last minute of the auction.


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## hyper_dermic (Dec 17, 2006)

I always snipe when bidding. As a buyer, a bidding war is what you want to AVOID
Ive always done it manually, but now i will use hammersnipe.

As a SELLER, you want to encourage bidding wars. I have even stooped so low as to create bidding wars on my products.. yes, its unethical... but im a shrewd salesman who will stop at nothing to make money.
so be aware of people like me.. if you see a bidding war break out, just walk away. unless you feel the price is still low enough to warrent a bid, if thats the case, then wait for the last possible second, and outbid all bidders. 10 seconds is a good margin.

-hyp


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

There is only one time to bid on an auction: in the last 5 seconds. Why in the world would anyone want to show their hand?

The moment you see an item decide the maximum amount you are willing to pay for it. Load it in to your snipe tool and don't look back until it is over. It astounds me that anyone would play the game any other way. You are just giving money away. The earlier the bids, the higher the final price. The more bids, the higher the final price. The more attention drawn to the auction, the higher the final price.

eBay and auctions work on emotion. Remove the emotion and you'll win. If you don't, the auction will play you.

And when folks say they lost by a dollar...well not really. That's just all it took to beat you. The max bid may have been much higher.

Don't be hating on the snipers. The only thing you do when you bid early and manually is line the pockets of ebay and sellers.

Snipe or be sniped.


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## F. Prefect (Jan 14, 2007)

You make some very good points. Any item I see on eBay that I plan to bid on I will set a maximum amount I will pay and no more. I will sometimes go ahead and have that amount in place or sometimes I may wait, but either way, the important thing is not to change the amount initially set except in rare cases where you discover the item may have a higher or lower value than you had initially thought.(that's why I usually will wait until the last few hours before placing a bid.)

NEVER let emotions get into the mix. Trying to outbid another buyer in the last minute is only playing into the seller's hand. The ocean is full of fish. If one gets away, rebait your hook and get it back in the water, you may be very surpised with your catch the second time around.:2 

F. Prefect


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

I was bidding on around 10 items the last few days. Won one, lost the rest. Half of my loses were from snipers who outbid me by an average of 1 dollar. I am not mad though. They just have a better sniping tool.


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## kheffelf (Jul 31, 2006)

Yep, Suorangeguy tried to get me on a pipe rack last night by voting at the last minute, to bad it didn't work for him either, he got outbid by two other guys in that last minute. I was winning that thing for like two days and then lose at the last minute, oh well no big deal. Also, it isn't that hard to see that I was winning it, if you like at the ebay user name and then my name on here, yep that is right they are the same. No, big deal orangeguy I am bidding on a nicer and a little smaller one this time. p


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

bonggoy said:


> ...They just have a better sniping tool...


 Didn't they just set a higher maximum bid?


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## 12stones (Jan 6, 2006)

Corona Gigante said:


> Didn't they just set a higher maximum bid?


There's also the timing factor that comes into play I believe. Like one checks every 10secs while another checks every 5secs. Others can correct me if I'm wrong.


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## SUOrangeGuy (Feb 22, 2006)

kheffelf said:


> Yep, Suorangeguy tried to get me on a pipe rack last night by voting at the last minute, to bad it didn't work for him either, he got outbid by two other guys in that last minute. I was winning that thing for like two days and then lose at the last minute, oh well no big deal. Also, it isn't that hard to see that I was winning it, if you like at the ebay user name and then my name on here, yep that is right they are the same. No, big deal orangeguy I am bidding on a nicer and a little smaller one this time. p


To be completely honest I never noticed that you were the high bidder. I have a small Decatur pipe rack that matches that one so I was watching it all week in order to bid on it. We both ended up big losers on that one. Also you shouldn't exaggerate. Your first bid wasn't until that morning not 2 days prior p

Hope you win the next one. I'll steer clear next time (unless its really nice)


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

Corona Gigante said:


> Didn't they just set a higher maximum bid?


Here's an example. We both set a max of 35 dollars. For some reason, his won. Might be an Ebay bug or a better sniping tool. I don't know. I am still too new with this sniping thing.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=180085298071


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## SUOrangeGuy (Feb 22, 2006)

bonggoy said:


> Here's an example. We both set a max of 35 dollars. For some reason, his won. Might be an Ebay bug or a better sniping tool. I don't know. I am still too new with this sniping thing.
> 
> http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=180085298071


Whoever put in the bid of 35 first wins the auction. As you can see his bid was in on the 17th yours the 19th. He wins the tie.


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## hyper_dermic (Dec 17, 2006)

It looks like his bid was put in first, if you both bid the same amount, then whoever got in 1st wins.

on another note.. i got re-sniped recently
There was a nice pipe was watching on ebay, and i used hammersnipe to get it.
set my max for $126... the bid went through with 15 seconds to go.. then 2 other people came over the top and the pipe went for 200 something...
so hammersnipe is far from foolproof.... its only good on auctions where other people are not sniping.

-hyp



bonggoy said:


> Here's an example. We both set a max of 35 dollars. For some reason, his won. Might be an Ebay bug or a better sniping tool. I don't know. I am still too new with this sniping thing.
> 
> http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=180085298071


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

SUOrangeGuy said:


> Whoever put in the bid of 35 first wins the auction. As you can see his bid was in on the 17th yours the 19th. He wins the tie.


I saw that. But how can he put in a bid on the 17th without it showing on the list. I would think his bid would at least show up in the bid history before the 19th.


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## kheffelf (Jul 31, 2006)

SUOrangeGuy said:


> To be completely honest I never noticed that you were the high bidder. I have a small Decatur pipe rack that matches that one so I was watching it all week in order to bid on it. We both ended up big losers on that one. Also you shouldn't exaggerate. Your first bid wasn't until that morning not 2 days prior p
> 
> Hope you win the next one. I'll steer clear next time (unless its really nice)


Sorry, my bad for the exaggeration, but the exaggeration really doesn't matter but I said it was no big deal, I put in the highest I wanted to pay and didn't win, oh well, maybe if I wanted to win it, I wouldn't have voted three cents over the asking price, like I said no big deal.p


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

hyper_dermic said:


> It looks like his bid was put in first, if you both bid the same amount, then whoever got in 1st wins.
> 
> on another note.. i got re-sniped recently
> There was a nice pipe was watching on ebay, and i used hammersnipe to get it.
> ...


I must still be missing something here.

It seems to be that you lost the auction for the only reason that any bidder ever loses an auction, because someone else was willing to pay more for the item than you were, not so? I don't see how the software comes into it.


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## hyper_dermic (Dec 17, 2006)

Well Hammersnipe was supposed to bid with 10 seconds left.. but it put the bid in with 15 seconds left.. which leaves plenty of time for another sniper (or 2) to bid again...

This was just a trial run for me and hammersnipe.
There was no way i was going to win this with that bid, im not blaming the software for this auction, but if i really REALLY wanted the pipe, i wouldnt trust hammersnipe as it leaves 15 or so seconds which is plenty of time for a good sniper to react.

(say i had set my max bid at $300... it bids with 15 seconds to go, and someone still has time to make 2 more bids to match/beat me) the best way to bid is to have the person not know the bid is coming. they think their $260 bid is good, so they dont bump it up... if i come along wiht 2 seconds left and overbid, they have no time to react.
The time lag is basically what im getting at... now if you want to PAY hammersnipe claims they cut the buffer time to 2 seconds.

-hyp



Corona Gigante said:


> I must still be missing something here.
> 
> It seems to be that you lost the auction for the only reason that any bidder ever loses an auction, because someone else was willing to pay more for the item than you were, not so? I don't see how the software comes into it.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

auctionsniper.com

Nothing better. And you pay by the snipe.


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## a.paul (Jan 17, 2007)

my hammersnipe goes with 5 seconds, and I don't pay.


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## hyper_dermic (Dec 17, 2006)

So thats where my 5 seconds went!!!



a.paul said:


> my hammersnipe goes with 5 seconds, and I don't pay.


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## mr.c (Apr 8, 2004)

bump for greg :r


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

mr.c said:


> bump for greg :r


bastage... 

seems i was told of a certain auction for a big ol' bundle of Escudo, old Escudo, on ebay... like 5 or 6 tins...

of course, hammersnipe is down for some stupid reason, so i place an initial bid, up to $65, but would've went up to 100... duh.

so, it ended this morning around 11am local time for me. 
i forget, and get outbid by 1 fuggin dollar.
:c


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## ultramag (Aug 23, 2007)

mr.c said:


> bump for greg :r





IHT said:


> bastage...


Somehow or another I knew when I saw this earlier that IHT would appreciate this bump. :ss Too funny mr. c. :bn


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

I'm totally a sniper. I learned it the hard way, everyone does it and if you don't, you lose. If I really care about an auction and can be there, I'll be sitting at my PC in the closing minutes. Still, if I bid $100 with 5 seconds less and some other guy bid three days before at $105, then he wins. The bid page does say enter your maximum amount. What's the diff if you do it 7 days or 5 seconds away from close?

BTW Greg, sorry for your miss.


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## Bruce (Dec 31, 1999)

I'm a sniper, but I don't use a program. I just wait until there is three minutes left, then use a stop watch. I put in my max bid and then hit the confirm with only 5 to 7 seconds left. I win some, I lose some, but I have more fun this way, and at times, beat out the snipe programs from running the bids up.


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